Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% has grown to 275 kg, up from 182 kg in the previous quarter, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency highlighted on Monday.
“Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon State enriching to this level, causing me serious concern,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in his statement to the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday.
The IAEA has argued in the past that there is no credible civilian use for uranium enriched to 60%, which is a short step from weapons-grade 90% enriched fissile material.
US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran end all programs that can enable it to produce nuclear weapons as a pre-condition for an agreement that would lift economic sanctions.
“It is also four years since the Agency was able to conduct complementary access in Iran,” Grossi pointed out.
He said Iran claims it has declared all of its nuclear material and activities, but “this statement is inconsistent with the Agency’s findings of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at undeclared locations in Iran.”
He added that the IAEA still does not know “the current location(s) of the nuclear material and/or of contaminated equipment involved.”
Grossi also pointed to an unexplained issue with Iran’s past uranium metal production. “There is also a discrepancy in the material balance of uranium involved in uranium metal production experiments conducted at Jaber Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratory, for which Iran has not accounted,” he said.
He said Iran is not following “modified Code 3.1, which is a legal obligation,” and warned that the “outstanding safeguards issues remain unresolved.” He added, “They stem from Iran’s obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and need to be resolved for the Agency to be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.”
Grossi said Iran had indicated it would consider accepting four additional IAEA inspectors but ultimately did not approve them. “I deeply regret that Iran did not accept their designation,” he said.
“There has been no significant progress towards implementing the Joint Statement of 4 March 2023,” Grossi said, urging Iran to engage with the IAEA. He said he will submit a “comprehensive and updated assessment on the presence and use of undeclared nuclear material” as requested by the IAEA Board in November 2024.
Grossi said his talks with Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, showed that “there may be room for constructive compromises.” He added, “I hope to see them again soon and pursue effective dialogue and tangible results.”
Source » iranintl